Everyone...well, a lot of people are posting their daily thankfuls this month on facebook. I thought of doing the same, but I never caught just the right mood. I thought that instead maybe I should post a blog of things I'm thankful for, but that didn't ring true either. It's not that I'm ungrateful, just that a list of little things didn't strike the right chord.
I am grateful for lots of little things: a bed to sleep in, clothes to wear, shoes, my sewing machine and other tools, gel to make my hair look great, socks with no holes in them...
And I'm grateful for bigger things: my house, electricity, running water, a car that works every day, bus and train drivers who get me to school every day, good teachers for my kids...
And I'm really grateful for the great, big things: my husband Bruce who loves me and whom I love dearly, each of my children who are amazing, intelligent, fun people, the family I grew up in, my in-laws, the gospel...
But most of all I am thankful for an underlying sense of peace and contentment; a feeling that everything is OK. I'm not always 100% happy, I get discouraged and frustrated sometimes, but underneath whatever is going on in my life, I know that I am all right. I can't describe my feelings very well; I suppose this is what has kept me from trying to write anything before now. But I am very thankful to be well, and to know that I am taken care of, and that life is very, very good.
And it is. Very good.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Update
Oooh! You can scratch the KitchenAid beater from my wish list—Bruce got me one in time for Thanksgiving! ♥ Thank you, Bruce!
Instead you can add the KitchenAid model K45 whisk to the list. ;-)
Instead you can add the KitchenAid model K45 whisk to the list. ;-)
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thanksgiving Countdown
This is it! The week of extravagant culinary indulgences. And my Thanksgiving Dinner Countdown has begun.
Sunday night: Put the turkey into the outdoor fridge to thaw. (Yes, it's in the garage—see, Kim, there can be some advantages to freezing cold weather).
Monday morning: Finish shopping for the feast. This is when it really hits me: Do we really need four kinds of pies, and more side-dishes than you can count for one meal? Um, yeah. We do. :-)
Monday afternoon: School, then rush home for dinner, and rush off to see Brandon's school play, Once Upon a Mattress.
Tuesday morning: Either make the stuffing bread or the apple pie. Probably the pie, since whatever I do has to be finished before I go to school; then I can put it in the freezer after school (built, but not baked).
Tuesday afternoon: Definitely make the stuffing bread now, before I get the kids from school.
Wednesday morning: No school for the kids—Yaaaayyy! If only I were so lucky. But it's only one one-hour class, and the rest of the day will be filled with preparations. So: 8:30-ish I'll bake a couple of pumpkin pies before school, while urging the kids to get their bedrooms clean.
Wednesday after school and lunch (1:00-ish): Bake a couple more pumpkin pies (with the kids this time). Yeah, we really do need four pumpkin pies—Thanksgiving lasts all weekend around here, and pumpkin pie makes a great breakfast! Also a pecan pie and maybe a banana-cream pie. We're having a totally easy and brain-free dinner onWednesday night, so we can keep up with food-prep for Thursday.
Ryan is making chip dips and some kid or other will make veggie dip. Still more children will break up the dry stuffing-bread. I'll also get help in preparing the yams, and I'll prepare the Classic Green Bean Casserole (Cooks Illustrated). Maybe we'll make some kind of jello, too. Undecided on that one. Everything goes into the fridge for the night.
Thursday: 8:00 a.m. Start making the broth out of the neck, giblets, etc. for moistening the stuffing. While the broth simmers we'll cut up the veggies for the veggie tray—also chop up celery and onions for the stuffing.
10:00 a.m: Make the stuffing and set it aside for a bit.
10:30-ish: Check out the house—is it clean?
11:00: Start packing everything into the van. We are having dinner at my father-in-law's house this year. I volunteered to cook, of course! So all the food, maybe a DVD, and possibly some games go into the van to make the...maybe five-mile commute.
12:00: We arrive at Dad's house. Come on, you know how it is! It takes a loooonnnng time to get everything and everybody into the car and on the road. And we start unpacking everything we brought with us.
12:30 Stuff the turkey and have it in the oven by 1:00. Usually we have an early Thanksgiving dinner—around 3 p.m. But this year Bruce has to work on Thanksgiving, so we're having dinner at about 5:00.
1:00: The turkey goes into the oven and now we're free to play games or watch movies, or whatever for a couple hours.
3:00: Get one of the kids to peel potatoes.
3:45: Chop the potatoes and put them to boil.
4:00: Check the turkey—is it done? Also, get kids (or someone) to set the table and send someone to pick Bruce up from work.
4:30: That bird should definitely be out of the oven and the potatoes are ready for mashing. The yams and green beans can go into the oven now and we can "unstuff" the turkey. It's also time to make the gravy.
4:45: Carve the turkey and start setting food on the table—or maybe just the buffet (kitchen island).
5:00-ish: Bruce should be home, we can all sit down for a blessing and then feast, feast, feast!
I'm thinking of taking some kind of smallish book for everyone to write down their gratitudes during the day, and maybe we can share them after dinner and before pie. Or something. We'll head back home around 9 or 10 p.m. after having a full day of food, family and giving thanks. What a lovely holiday Thanksgiving is!
Sunday night: Put the turkey into the outdoor fridge to thaw. (Yes, it's in the garage—see, Kim, there can be some advantages to freezing cold weather).
Monday morning: Finish shopping for the feast. This is when it really hits me: Do we really need four kinds of pies, and more side-dishes than you can count for one meal? Um, yeah. We do. :-)
Monday afternoon: School, then rush home for dinner, and rush off to see Brandon's school play, Once Upon a Mattress.
Tuesday morning: Either make the stuffing bread or the apple pie. Probably the pie, since whatever I do has to be finished before I go to school; then I can put it in the freezer after school (built, but not baked).
Tuesday afternoon: Definitely make the stuffing bread now, before I get the kids from school.
Wednesday morning: No school for the kids—Yaaaayyy! If only I were so lucky. But it's only one one-hour class, and the rest of the day will be filled with preparations. So: 8:30-ish I'll bake a couple of pumpkin pies before school, while urging the kids to get their bedrooms clean.
Wednesday after school and lunch (1:00-ish): Bake a couple more pumpkin pies (with the kids this time). Yeah, we really do need four pumpkin pies—Thanksgiving lasts all weekend around here, and pumpkin pie makes a great breakfast! Also a pecan pie and maybe a banana-cream pie. We're having a totally easy and brain-free dinner onWednesday night, so we can keep up with food-prep for Thursday.
Ryan is making chip dips and some kid or other will make veggie dip. Still more children will break up the dry stuffing-bread. I'll also get help in preparing the yams, and I'll prepare the Classic Green Bean Casserole (Cooks Illustrated). Maybe we'll make some kind of jello, too. Undecided on that one. Everything goes into the fridge for the night.
Thursday: 8:00 a.m. Start making the broth out of the neck, giblets, etc. for moistening the stuffing. While the broth simmers we'll cut up the veggies for the veggie tray—also chop up celery and onions for the stuffing.
10:00 a.m: Make the stuffing and set it aside for a bit.
10:30-ish: Check out the house—is it clean?
11:00: Start packing everything into the van. We are having dinner at my father-in-law's house this year. I volunteered to cook, of course! So all the food, maybe a DVD, and possibly some games go into the van to make the...maybe five-mile commute.
12:00: We arrive at Dad's house. Come on, you know how it is! It takes a loooonnnng time to get everything and everybody into the car and on the road. And we start unpacking everything we brought with us.
12:30 Stuff the turkey and have it in the oven by 1:00. Usually we have an early Thanksgiving dinner—around 3 p.m. But this year Bruce has to work on Thanksgiving, so we're having dinner at about 5:00.
1:00: The turkey goes into the oven and now we're free to play games or watch movies, or whatever for a couple hours.
3:00: Get one of the kids to peel potatoes.
3:45: Chop the potatoes and put them to boil.
4:00: Check the turkey—is it done? Also, get kids (or someone) to set the table and send someone to pick Bruce up from work.
4:30: That bird should definitely be out of the oven and the potatoes are ready for mashing. The yams and green beans can go into the oven now and we can "unstuff" the turkey. It's also time to make the gravy.
4:45: Carve the turkey and start setting food on the table—or maybe just the buffet (kitchen island).
5:00-ish: Bruce should be home, we can all sit down for a blessing and then feast, feast, feast!
I'm thinking of taking some kind of smallish book for everyone to write down their gratitudes during the day, and maybe we can share them after dinner and before pie. Or something. We'll head back home around 9 or 10 p.m. after having a full day of food, family and giving thanks. What a lovely holiday Thanksgiving is!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wish List 2011
It's that time again...I know you've all just been waiting for this: It's time for my Christmas wish list. (Well, maybe Kim isn't ready for a Christmas post.) Usually I post my list 50 days before Christmas to give everyone plenty of time to think just.about.me. ;-) ;-) But this year your shopping time is cut short because Jessica was baptized on the 50-day mark, so I postponed my list in favor of that more important news.
Anyway, I have been a very good girl—straight A's in school (OK, one A-minus); healthy, well-fed family; relatively clean house; I haven't kicked the dog...
...So here (in no particular order) is what I'd like:
A pedicure. Or one a month for the next year. Really. I'd love that.
New clothes.
A beater for my 2 1/2-quart Kitchenaid stand mixer. The mixer runs great, but the beater is lost.
Men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Not the men, but the cd called Men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Or just about any Mormon Tabernacle Choir cds, but you'd have to search my collection to figure out which ones I don't already have. :-) Oooh! Rejoice and Be Merry! is one I want (Tabrnacle Choir with the King's Singers); and Ring Christmas Bells (Tabernacle Choir with Brian Stokes Mitchell).
I still want a new sewing machine, but I've upgraded my wish to a Bernina.
New clothes.
A camera. I don't need anything fancy, but mine is in very sorry condition. Lately I've taken to commandeering Michael's camera, so maybe he'd like me to have one, too.
A dress form. An adjustable one that will let me fit my size.
A drill press.
A belt sander.
A Dremel tool.
A table saw. Yep, I want power tools—for me. And maybe lessons in woodworking. :-)
Jane Eyre.
Hard-bound copies of the Little House books, except for Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy, which I already have.
Puppet Patterns from projectpuppet.com.
New clothes. Or maybe a shopping spree would be even better!
Well, obviously this could go on forever!
When I first started writing my list I could only think of about two things I'd like to have (um, new clothes would be one). But as I go on I realize that I could keep going on and on because there's really a lot of cool things out there. While all this stuff is pretty great, I find that really I am quite content. I think Christmas will be pretty happy for me if I can be at home, baking, making projects, listening to great music, and especially hanging out with my family. And maybe a few Christmas cards from my friends would be nice. :-)
Anyway, I have been a very good girl—straight A's in school (OK, one A-minus); healthy, well-fed family; relatively clean house; I haven't kicked the dog...
...So here (in no particular order) is what I'd like:
New clothes.
A beater for my 2 1/2-quart Kitchenaid stand mixer. The mixer runs great, but the beater is lost.
I still want a new sewing machine, but I've upgraded my wish to a Bernina.
New clothes.
A camera. I don't need anything fancy, but mine is in very sorry condition. Lately I've taken to commandeering Michael's camera, so maybe he'd like me to have one, too.
A drill press.
A belt sander.
A Dremel tool.
A table saw. Yep, I want power tools—for me. And maybe lessons in woodworking. :-)
Hard-bound copies of the Little House books, except for Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy, which I already have.
Puppet Patterns from projectpuppet.com.
New clothes. Or maybe a shopping spree would be even better!
The Reader's Digest Family Songbook (1969)—for the fun family memories. :-)
Well, obviously this could go on forever!
When I first started writing my list I could only think of about two things I'd like to have (um, new clothes would be one). But as I go on I realize that I could keep going on and on because there's really a lot of cool things out there. While all this stuff is pretty great, I find that really I am quite content. I think Christmas will be pretty happy for me if I can be at home, baking, making projects, listening to great music, and especially hanging out with my family. And maybe a few Christmas cards from my friends would be nice. :-)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Jessica was Baptized!
Yesterday was Jessica's baptism day! And I have to say that it was one of the most exciting baptisms I've ever seen. The LDS church believes in baptism by immersion, which means all of you has to go under the water—no hair, no toes, no nothing can pop up. If something does, you just have to do it again. So usually Bruce will practice a dry dunk with the kids a few times before the baptism day so they know how to do it. And I French-braided Jessica's hair so it wouldn't float around. But we didn't foresee what would happen yesterday.
Here is the play-by-play:
First of all, it turns out that the water in the font wasn't very warm—Bruce says it was just approaching luke-warm. After Bruce said the baptism ordinance words and he moved to dunk Jessica under the water, for some reason she moved her hand and didn't plug her nose. She was already moving down fast, so Bruce couldn't get her back up and try again, so down she went. I was standing where I could see her face and she looked a little panicked and her mouth was open, too. I wonder if maybe she opened her mouth to say something. Anyway, she went under the water with her mouth and nose open—and her eyes wide open, too. Then she started flailing her legs like crazy, and so Bruce started shoving her down to make sure she got good and baptized before she came back up. This all happened in about a second, although Mom viewed it all in slow motion. In spite of all that, Jessica didn't need to go under a second time, and she got a huge hug from Dad when she was all done.
The bishopric member who was there said he'd never seen so much kicking at a baptism, and several people (who were not as close to the scene as I was) also thought that she was pretty funny. When I explained what happened we all had a smile and a "Poor Jessica!" together.
But she survived it very well, and now Jessica is an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I guess my baby isn't a baby any more.
We are very proud of Jessica! :-)
 |
| before the baptism |
First of all, it turns out that the water in the font wasn't very warm—Bruce says it was just approaching luke-warm. After Bruce said the baptism ordinance words and he moved to dunk Jessica under the water, for some reason she moved her hand and didn't plug her nose. She was already moving down fast, so Bruce couldn't get her back up and try again, so down she went. I was standing where I could see her face and she looked a little panicked and her mouth was open, too. I wonder if maybe she opened her mouth to say something. Anyway, she went under the water with her mouth and nose open—and her eyes wide open, too. Then she started flailing her legs like crazy, and so Bruce started shoving her down to make sure she got good and baptized before she came back up. This all happened in about a second, although Mom viewed it all in slow motion. In spite of all that, Jessica didn't need to go under a second time, and she got a huge hug from Dad when she was all done.
The bishopric member who was there said he'd never seen so much kicking at a baptism, and several people (who were not as close to the scene as I was) also thought that she was pretty funny. When I explained what happened we all had a smile and a "Poor Jessica!" together.
But she survived it very well, and now Jessica is an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I guess my baby isn't a baby any more.
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